Welcome to TechTeam!
A Civic Engagement group at the Institute of Politics, we work with local non-profit organizations to help meet their technical needs! Learn more about us, this quarter's projects and workshops, and how to get involved below!
what we do
Our mission is to create digital tools that effect change. Learn more about our projects, workshops, mentorship program, and spring Hackathon below!Projects:
Every quarter, we partner with several governmental or Chicago-based non-profit organizations to fulfill their technical needs, including creating a website, developing a mobile app, or analyzing data. Learn more about this quarter's projects above, "explore autumn 2023 projects".As a project member, you'll be devoting around 2hours/week to work with your fellow project members on one of our client's technical needs. If needed, some projects extend to several quarters, and you can choose to stay or transfer to another project if you'd like to explore something new!As a project leader, you'll be devoting ~3-5 hours/week to both communicate with your clients, and instruct and delegate responsibilities to your project members. Project leaders are usually upperclassmen, but if you're a rockstar upperclassmen with the prerequisite technical skills for the project, please feel free to apply!Workshops:
Not ready to dive into a project yet or just want to learn some new technical skills! Attend one of our workshop series, which are open to all skill levels! These run throughout the quarter, and you can find out more through our Instagram or Facebook page.Mentorship Program:
Are you an underclassmen looking for career, academic, or general college advice? Running in winter quarter, you and 3-4 other underclassmen mentees will be matched with an upperclassmen mentor best suited to your interests. You'll meet weekly or bi-weekly throughout the quarter to discuss any topics you're interested, whether it's recruiting, staying on top of coursework, research, etc.
project member/leader application FAQ
Do I need technical experience relevant to the project to apply?Relevant technical experience is a plus, but please feel free to apply if you are excited and motivated to learn new skills throughout the quarter! If needed, we can purchase online courses as well for those who don't have experience in the project's tech stack.In addition, please feel free to attend our workshop series if you would feel more comfortable learning the prerequisite skills before diving into the projects.When do the project member/leader applications close?
They open Monday September 27th and will close Saturday, October 8th at 11:59 PM. Please feel free to email us with any questions at [email protected]What is the time commitment?
Project members typically have a time commitment of 2 hours/week, or 1-2 weekly meetings.Projects leaders typically have a time commitment of 3-5 hours/week, including planning meetings, and communicating updates with the client.